Macromedia Flex now available

Macromedia has announced the immediate availability of Macromedia Flex, a new presentation server and application framework that enables enterprise development teams to put more effective interfaces on critical business applications.

Available locally through Macromedia distributor and Web-enablement specialist, Dax Data, the Flex server offers a standards-based, declarative programming methodology for delivering rich user experiences via the ubiquitous Macromedia Flash Player. These experiences, known as rich Internet applications, combine the rich user interface of desktop software with the reach and ease of deployment of the Web.

"Everyone knows the limitations of HTML for application user interfaces, but until now, there hasn`t been an alternative that works for enterprise development teams," says Jeremy Matthews, MD at Dax Data. "Flex is going to create a renaissance in enterprise application development."

The Flex presentation server is designed to help development teams deliver rich Internet applications in scenarios where traditional page-based HTML applications are inadequate.

Examples include rich visual data dashboards, online product selection and configuration tools, and customer self-service applications. These applications are multi-step processes that involve visualisation techniques, immediate user feedback, and local processing that are difficult if not impossible to deliver in HTML. The Flex application framework offers an extensible and customisable class library of pre-built components, effects, behaviours, and layout managers for creating more effective experiences for these uses.

The release of Flex represents a key milestone in the emergence of an important new application architecture. This new approach blends the flexibility of services-oriented data access with the superior reach and effectiveness of a cross-platform rich client. The result is applications that are easier to build and maintain, use less bandwidth, deliver more functionality, and run on all leading server and desktop operating systems.

"There is a major industry-wide push toward the use of service-oriented architectures and rich clients as a way of delivering more effective experiences to enterprise customers," says Matthews. "Macromedia Flex perfectly encapsulates the kind of solution that enables enterprise developers to use their existing tools and architecture to bring a more intuitive, compelling user experience to online applications."

The Flex framework supports open tooling, allowing developers to use their text editor or IDE of choice to create applications that run on the Flex presentation server.

Later this year, Macromedia plans to release a new Flex development tool code-named "Brady". Built on Dreamweaver MX 2004, "Brady" will offer visual layout, code editing, debugging, and data connectivity tools for creating Flex applications.

In addition, IBM is working with Macromedia to develop a Flex plug-in for the WebSphere Studio Application Developer development environment. A pre-release version of this plug-in is available on IBM Alphaworks at www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/wsadflex.

Partners and developers have already found strategic uses for Flex based rich Internet applications. For more information, to get a trial version of Flex, or to see rich Internet applications built with Flex, visit www.macromedia.com/go/flex.